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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. GRESSOM, OF ERIN, WISCONSIN.

WAGON-COUPLING.

SPEC!IZEIGAIIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,805, dated January 18, 1881.

Application filed October 28, 1880. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. GRESSOM, of Erin, in the county of St. Groix and State of Wisconsin,have invented a new and Improved 5 Wagon-Coupling, of which the following is a specification.

In ordinary wagon-couplings the front axle and sand-board are weakened by the mortise made for the wagon-reach, and the said axle, sand-board, and front bolster are held together by three bolts passing through them, and the consequent nine bolt-holes also detract very much from the strength of the front gear. In the ordinary wagon-coupling, too, the reach is rapidly worn and weakened by the jarring of the king-bolt where it passes through, and unless the wagon be loaded evenly the load will generally bear down on one side, and thereby strain and distort the gear and make the hauling of the wagon more difficult, and also bringing the wagon box against the bolster-stakes, so that when the wagon-box is taken off the bolster and kingbolt are apt to come off with it.

The object of this invention is to remedy these defects or remove these obj ections to the ordinary wagon-coupling gear.

The invention consists of a coupling-block transversely mortised on the under side to fit over and upon the sand-board and front axle, to which latter it is held by a single fore-andaft bolt, and having a circular socket in its top for the reception of the circular base of the bolster support, which support is held therein by a suitable cover and provided with a rearward-projecting forked lug that clamps the forward end of the wagon-reach.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the device in position on a wagon-gear. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bolster-support. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the coupling-block.

In the drawings, Arepresents the couplingblock, of a general rounded or circular outline,

having a deep mortise, (1, extending transversely through it fromone side to the other thereof, for fitting upon thesand-board B and rear axle, 0. The sand board B being of smaller cross-section than the axle O, the mortise a is narrowed above the latter, thereby forming a shoulder, b, that rests upon the said axle G. A single bolt, 0, is passed centrally, from front to rear, through the lower part of the coupling-block A and the axle G, and serves to hold the former to the latter. In the top of the said coupling-block A is a shallow circular socket, d, in which is fitted the circular base f of the bolster-support D, said bolster-support D consisting of the circular base f, surmounted by a horizontal plate, g, having its upper face deeply grooved, as shown at h, for the reception of the bolster E.

At 0 are shown the bolts passing either side of the center down through the bolster E into the support D and holding the two together, no king-bolt'being used, the bolster-support D being held in place by two plates, k, that are secured by bolts k k to the top of the coupling-block A. Extending rearward and centrally from the said coupling-block A is a forked lug, l, in which the reach G is held by a bolt, m, as shown.

This device constitutes a simple, strong, and durable coupling, and one entirely free from the objections in those of the ordinary construction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a wagon-coupling constructed substantially as herein shown and described, consisting of coupling-block A, provided with shouldered mortise a, socket d, and forked lug l, bolstersupport D, and plates k k, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the sand-boardB and axle O, of the mortised coupling-block A and bolt 0, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. The combination, with the coupling-block A, provided with forked lug l, of the reach G, substantially as herein shown and described.

JAMES HENRY GRESSOM.

Witnesses:

THOMAS J. THOMPSON, J OHNEY A. THoM'PsoN. 

